Hee! Hee!

Every afternoon and most nights I get the pleasure of putting my Claire down for a rest. We start out with one to three stories of Claire's choosing. Right now she loves 'Ten in a Bed" and anything 'Curious George'. After reading I sing several songs to her. Mostly, I sing primary songs. She has taken lately to grabbing my face with her little paws and saying the name of the song and then says, {Anticipating the glorious tones that are about to come forth{not}"Okay 1,2,3, GO! Then I am supposed to sing. With a smile, she stops me,"No,no,no funny!"She likes me to change the words so that they are nonsensical songs. To this she laughs with glee, not very calming, but oh so precious. It takes a while sometimes to get her to calm down. I am determined to enjoy every last laugh.

I lived in heaven along time ago, lived with Blue.

Lived there and loved there with people I knew with a clue.

Then Heavenly Father created a beautiful Man,

All about earth and the need that we have for a tan.

HEE! HEE !HA !HA! Giggle Giggle! Do it again Mom Do it again!

I know I am hilarious! At least my two year old thinks so.

Popular, I'll Help you be Popular!

Claire's favorite songs at the time are respectively, "Popular" from the musical WICKED and the hymn ' Called to Serve' a missionary favorite. She knows both of these by heart and sings them constantly.

This song 'Popular', I mean I too love this song, but the message is a little self serving and even smug. She sings it with such vigor and such conviction that I think she really means it. Should I be worried that my little diva is concerned about being the center of attention.? I guess this is the reality of our family!

Counter to the previous song is 'Called to Serve'. Well, I love this song too and I hope the message of this song is seeping into her "big girl" conscience. I want her serve others and be helpful. She is very loving and always willing to help or share, with one caveat, you must ask her nicely. Some sort of pleasantry is a must; PLEASE, is what does it!

_________________________________________________________________

One more thing about my "Little Princess", she will not use any crass words. Although, she will tell you what the indiscreet word is that she does not want to use.

Claire-After dropping her cereal all over the floor and with a heaving sigh, looks up at me and says," We don't say CRAP, do we?" "No, Claire, we don't."

I AM NOT TIRED!

I am not proud of these pictures {even though they are my favorite ones to take of my kids} But really two days in a row... All I can say is Claire needs her nap. She protest as every good two year old does. We do have a sort of a schedule , but the weekend threw us off a bit. I don't usually have Claire nap while eating, but when you need to get everything on your list done you might as well double task. Plus she is a girl and she needs to learn how to multi task.... Don't you love the pizza in her mouth. You can see just a smidgen of it that can be saved for later, a kind of after nap treat...ewww!

Claire

Claire has become quite the resourceful little girl. She can turn on her own light by climbing up on a covered chair walking out on the arm and flipping on the light. She says she is a big girl now. The only problem is that she climbs down the back of the chair and gets stuck. She does this constantly. I think she thinks it is funny.

She was playing today with a bouncey ball and she was pretending that it was a baby. She dropped in onto the floor and then exclaimed,"Oh, I am so sorry baby, I did not mean to drop you." Then she asked me to pick up her baby, when I picked up a doll and she said no my baby. I asked which baby and she pointed to the ball. Then she picked up the ball and cradled it in her arms soothing it.

She brings a thousand smiles to my face everyday!

Fishy Muck and Cookie Dough

This week we have had much needed rain. With rain comes bad Internet service...hmmm... which is more important Rain or communicating with the world.... Tough choice...okay it has to be rain the world needs water and so do I.

We had a great lesson in FHE about repentance and forgiveness by Sam, Complete with wipe board graphics. Skip and I were a little confused at first with where he was going with his story about a ring , his primary teacher and Blake, but don't the pictures tell the story.

Then Jack treated us to chocolate chip edible cookie dough for desert. You use vanilla pudding instead of eggs. It was a little to sweet for me and Skip took a pass on it. Jack really wanted to experiment with the recipe so we decided to cook them to see how they would taste...they were okay, a little spongy texture.

Sam had The Rain Gutter Regatta at cub scouts and he loved it. We all did. He is begging us to buy some rain gutters and set them up in the garage for our own races or better yet he says we should build a pine wood derby race track in the garage. Of course you know Skip jumped all over this! HA!HA!

Claire went to her first two birthday parties this week. She is a party girl. Just mention the word party and she throws her hands up in the air and exclaims WHOO! HOO! She does bust me up constantly. I love that she is so observant. At one of the parties my friend had some decorative hearts hanging on the wall and Claire commented to her," Those are lovely hearts you have on that wall." really how nice thanks..?

With the rain comes power outages. With power outages comes {sometimes} Fish tank aquarium flooding...you know there is no amount of self talk that can help me when I wake from a dead sleep, to the sound of water pouring out on to my wood somewhat warped floor. { It flooded while we were at the beach...ARGGGGG} i mean you sit straight up in bed, tell Skip to hurry and get up because the tank is over flowing . It is pitch dark in the house, the emergency flash lights that I thought I had so cleverly hidden were gone of course...I can't imagine WHO could of taken them...elves, pixies..maybe trolls... You bumble to the linen closet to find old towels fast in the dark and down the stairs at 3 something in the morning and clean up water that is pouring over the sides, while Skip tries to stop it. The light come back on while we are cleaning it up ,everything settles down and back into bed, then BAM! Right as you are about to enter into that deep restful sleep it happens again... Skip you are on your own. I don't want to be responsible for the demise of any fish. I promise YOU THAT IS MY STATE OF MIND AT 4 SOMETHING IN THE MORNING WHEN THE EMERGENCY INVOLVES A SALT WATER FISH TANK.

A fun Weekend

Claire broke out with huge hives on her legs and arms. I wasn't sure what it was {of course I go right to bed bugs... I start obsessing on fumigation and if we will need to move, what will happen to all are stuff, and are we infested or what...Yes, I am crazy} We went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon, the whole bunch, the doctors office is used to it. This was our first visit when Claire did not weep. She told me on the way into the office," I am happy. I have hives. I will not cry, because I am a big girl. Then I will get a sucker." Yea, My big girl is progressing. She also slept in her bed three nights in a row till 7:00 am. All I have to say is, Whoo Hooo!!!!! A small disclaimer: I did give her Benadryl the first night FOR HIVES! I do not drug my kids so I can get much needed rest, although it has crossed my mind over 730 times.
Jack had his second Boy Scout camp out. We collected all these different items{ not explosive} For him to throw into the fire to make the flames change color; ie salt, alum, borax, and Epsom salt. He thought that was pretty cool. He also hiked five miles, which he did not think was pretty cool. He took some beautiful pictures on the hike. I was not losing sleep this time. It was a little weird without him, but I managed. In fact there was a stress that was missing.

Friday was our ward picnic. The kids had a blast playing with their friends and catching frogs. Our Primary President was leading the fun on the big teeter-tauter. We have a great ward. Saturday morning I received a call that a dear lady, Ruby had too many grapes and tons of apples that needed picking. Off we went to pick. Claire loved cutting the grapes off the vine and Blake and Sam did a great job getting some apples for us to can. I get to do the canning. Thank you Ruby you an awesome women. I hope I am this spry when I am her age.

Later that night I made everyone pick the grapes off the vine. I thought we could sit around the table and talk. You know bond, Family time. Well, Skip thought we should move into the family room and watch the Olympics while we pick. So much for bonding. The grapes got done, there was allot of talking and you could barely hear the commentary on the event that was taking place. The marathon. Skip kept telling the kids to stop talking and watch, but really,... the marathon. While it is a great feat of strength and endurance, my children's attention was not held by any reach of the imagination. {Except Jack} Try gymnastics, swimming, volley ball, rowing even badminton and they will watch and be amazed.

Summertime Play

I wish you could have been here on such a gorgeous day. The pictures don't tell the story. It was a comfortable 78 degrees with a nice easy breeze. The bright blue sky was full of big white cottony clouds. The trees were green and smelled fresh. A perfect day for a bike ride. All the kids were up for it. Jack and Sam rode and Blake and Claire got a ride from me. Smiles all around. I love this beautiful world that God has given to us to care for and enjoy. I love sharing it with my kids. Coasting down a hill with the wind in your face, enjoying the view, and loving life!

After our bike ride we took a break to enjoy the swings. I love to swing, the wind in your hair, up and down, and how can you help but smile. The breeze was wonderful, the humidity low, and the sky was bright with big billowy clouds. {I can't get over the Sky. I know I am going on about the clouds ,but man they were awesome.}

Isn't it amazing how a child can go from happy to sad in an instant. I am not sure if being happy is a state of mind , if it is Claire moves from state to state at a very fast pace. Especially when she is dead tired. When I took her out of the swing{ I did warn her several times that this was coming} She let out a piercing scream, then wailed for 10 minuets. Fun car ride to Costco! She feel asleep of course as we drove into the parking lot and I carried her all through the store.

OBX...The Beach

We left yesterday for our drive to the beach. Leaving at 2 pm we planned on a 3-4 hour trip. Traffic was terrible at all points north of the tide water bridge and our drive turned into a 6 hour trip. I was not prepared. No snacks. No extra games. No toys. NO CHOCOLATE!!! {I did however, have Motrin and I needed it.} We were almost to our destination and Claire was extremely cranky. Claire needed her fix and so did I. I remembered Jack packed the DVDs and yes BLUES CLUES was in the mix. Thank you Jack.



We made it to the beach house and we were all very happy. Sad also, because Aunt Maryann and family were not there. Would it be the same with out them?

The first day the water was calm, really calm, lake like. The weather was warm and muggy slight breeze from the land not the sea. The flys and jelly fish were biting. Never the less, we made the best of the day. All my boys went into the water. Claire did not want to at all. She played in the baby pool and was quite content.

Now the adults are playing "Loot". Me, I am blogging, anti social that is me.I need to join in the pirate fun.

1.Ocean

2.lighting

3. sunscreen

Losing Ground... read at your own risk...

I need to go to bed. It is way too late. I was up at a friends house last night til 1:30 am. We had a great time talking and eating. I am getting to old for late nighters. I needed three Motrin in the morning and I all I did was talk and laugh. I am willing to pay the piper for the chance to talk with great friends.

Today was really quite out of control. All my plans turned into mush, when I double scheduled myself with out knowing. I rose from my state of incoherency about 7:15 {Claire had everything to do with it. For some reason, I can't figure out, the girl must eat immediately after her eyeballs see the light of day. There is no putting it off unless you want to listen to wailing and gnashing of teeth} After taking some Motrin and washing my face I was ready to face the day. We had breakfast and then I gave Claire her fix of Blues Clues.{I am a pusher} I got ready for some RS visits. I was feeling pretty good. I was on time. I was organized. I had all my errands in a row ready to go. Life was good.{ For about 15 min, I say savor every good thing no matter how fleeting it might be. It may be the last good thing for a while.} We arrived at our first appointment, sat down and started to visit. My cell rings. It was Jack. I excused myself and answered it. The piano teacher was there. AAUGGGG! I forgot! I talked to him on the phone, apologized and said I would be home in 20 min. He was very gracious and waited for me. THANK YOU JAKE!

After I got home, I put the troops that were not in a lesson to work cleaning. Truly my house is such a mess and very unorganized. It makes life very difficult for me.{ too many people talking in my head. It is very loud in there.} After Jake left. I needed to run another errand back into town. I told someone I would be by at a certain time and I really couldn't miss it. The kids were hungry, so I told them I will be back in 20 min and I will buy Macaroni and cheese {yuck} they love it and they never get it. They were happy about that. I spouted off instructions about what I wanted cleaned while I was gone. Did it happen ? No, But Jack did text me that Sam was driving him crazy and would I please get home soon. { all while I was trying to deal with some enrichment activity stuff, that deals with money and orders.{my mind is just swimming now} I really don't need siblings screaming over the cell phone in text form . I get enough at home.

I arrive home to find nothing done and a myriad of excuses as to why "x" could not be accomplished. { the usual blaming of others for your own choices. AHGGG!} We talk about it and I finally say, exasperatedly; "Just go do it, no more talking to me on this subject!" {I am sure no other well meaning Moms have had this happen:)} Anyway, Jack decides he wants to go to someones house to play,which is great. There is a nice kid visiting his father for a couple weeks and Jack really has no friends here, so I am a little indulgent about last minute plans with him. The problem lies with Claire. We just put her down for a nap, mind you she is not asleep,but if I get her up will she think ;Oh, I can get up when ever Mommy puts me down. She actually came down and said," I woke up Mommy . I am happy now." Great, Great.... Get in the car so we can go for yet another ride in to town............Of course she falls asleep in the car.

As I am trying to figure out why my money doesn't match my order forms{which is hard to do while someone very short is coming down from the high that is "Blues Clues" yes, I pushed more on her.} I get a call from someone in the ward wanting to know if I want to car pool with her to cub scouts tonight ,because they are all going to this park for a letter boxing activity. Well, I didn't get the e-mail about this, so I am grateful that she called. Yes, of course I would love to car pool. This just means another drive into town.

Jack's friend drops him off and lets just say they had a great time , but Jack made a poor choice {not life threatening or salvation damming and no one was hurt} and I called him on it and he is busted. He is crying. Why? I am not sure it could be any number of reasons: guilt and remorse{I hope} got caught{ maybe}has to admit to friend{probably}. Anyway, what an ordeal. Plus Claire is crying and She doesn't know why. Her answer. Blake decides or not that this is a good time to have an accident. He is crying and it takes a lever to pry that reason out of him. All while i am trying to do the dishes and make some sort of dinner.{probably because I was raising my voice to Jack,.. spreading the love around.... Can you feel it?} I feel like I am spinning out of control.

I leave the house with Sam to pick up his friend. Am I on time? NO! Was I feeling pretty good? NO!... Yes! I did have all my errands once again in a organized row. Jack was in control of himself making cheese crisp for the kids, corn bread was in the oven waiting to be done and there were apple slices all around. I drive into town.

I call Skip and give him the abbreviated version of what went down with Jack and ask him to please go home as soon as he can, or when he is done or whatever. I fight through 6:30 traffic to get Sam and his buddy to Scouts. We make it.WHEW! {Sam tells me his stomach hurts, don't worry he doesn't get sick, one more thing to wrap my mind around} He has been telling me this for about four days now every time he eats. What to do? ... I will call the doctor tomorrow.

When Sam gets home, we ask him how was Scouts? He hems and haws then finally he tells us he didn't really participate. There were to many guys and they were out of control and he didn't want to fight them to try to do it. Then he starts to cry { All Cry all Day} He said he left his stuff on the hood of someones car while he was waiting for the ride to get them and he forgot it. Plus his leader might think he doesn't like Scouts because he didn't do the stamping, but she didn't either. He says this all while he is crying. I am drained. I just say,"Go brush your teeth, I will be up in a minute." I send Skip instead. I can't face him. I am worn down. Blake then calls me from my stupor. He is yelling at the top of his lungs from his bed { not unusual, but this really pushes my hot button, I mean I am trying to keep Claire asleep. This is the prime objective.} I go upstairs, stare down Blake and he tells me he was calling me, because Sam is under his covers weeping. Please, no more tears I can't take it. I give Sam a hug and tell him I am sorry too, but I am not going back to that park tomorrow. Next time he will need to keep track of his stuff and maybe a leader might have found it. He calms some what. Blake tries to sneak in, while I am soft, a " Can you get us our drinks." NO! the rage is Back..... I go get Chocolate.

Did I mention I signed up our family at a Gym today!

My Hair

Claire has just recently grown a bit of hair. It has started to move in the wind. On Sunday,for church, I put her hair in a ponytail right in the middle of her head{ extremely small}. She loves it. As my mother and I were leaving the church building, we opened the door for Claire to exit. She took one step out into the Utah Valley wind and her hair flew. She responded with a girlie flair, while grabbing the top of her head with both hands. She cried, " My Hair!"

The poser

Claire has become quite a poser. How does she even know? SHE IS A GIRL! I know. It is so funny, the minute I say smile she strikes a pose. This is her being "Super Power Claire, Fire fighter" her words. The robe tie is her hose.

Claire received a new bathing suit. Needless to say she was thrilled. She wouldn't take it off. When I got the camera out she immediately started posing. She would love her own photo shoot. The camera loves you, baby.

I DROPPED MY SUCKER!!!!!

Wrong Side of the Bed

Does anybody else not want to face the world in the morning? We put Claire in her "big girl bed" like two months ago. I just have to say PORT-a-CRIB. She is about to return! It has slowly gone from OK to terrible, in just Eight short weeks. She goes down OK. After a myriad of stories and Songs. This can last for about....... However long she can get you to stay. Then she sleeps till about 1:00 am and gets up and comes into my side of the bed {of course} I am too tired most of the time { from NOT GETTING ANY SLEEP} to walk her back to her bed and fight with her. Then she proceeds to snuggle up to me, rub my face and chin, and push her knees into my side. So comfortable, I could sleep like this forever. ..... .I am tired. I ramble.

Just one more reason not to get up. I slammed my face into the closet door way. You think, right....... I was going to throw something away and came up too fast right into the door jam. OUCH! I did almost cry. It really hurt. I thought toughen up. Then I realized I was bleeding. I cut my lip open and my eyebrow. NICE! As you can see it is ever so attractive.

Bath Tub Antics

OK, I am sorry but Claire is just too cute. She was taking a bath and I went out to get her hoody towel. When I came back she was out of the tub and giggling behind the door.{ Sam had warned me so I was camera ready} She thought she was so funny. She jumped out and squealed Surprise!

The next thing I found fun was that she let me put a pony tail in her hair.We were in the bathroom and I was getting ready, she acted like she wanted to try something in her hair. {I have tried a million times, believe me and the answer is always a firm, NO.} The boys couldn't stop touching it. It did look quite funny, like some sort of horn. It's kind of fun. I was so proud she kept in in her hair for about an hour.

Thank you Aunt Maryann

Wow! Said Claire as she gazes at the shoes and dresses laid out before her. "Aunt Maryann E-mailed these to me." We put them on,"Now I am a princess."

Claire Rambles

Claire" I spoke from a tower."

Mom," Are you King Benjamin?"

Claire," Yes, Be quiet and listen to.... , OK ....Repent {looks around} nice boots. OK this is how we figure it out,... Enmity is hate, .... get set go. So, I spoke from a tower so, so... repent{ writes something on a piece of paper} I have a million dollars and a rooster and we have friends... I just told you what we have.

Stands up looks around, folds her arms "My name is Claire Elizabeth Ross. I will play a song." Runs to the piano and sings. .... comes back sits in a chair and pretends to ride a horse. " Go horse go."

Jumps down under her chair and hides... jumps out and says, "surprise!"

Walks over to me and says, '"Mom are you not a princess anymore?" I say,"no"

"Oh, ..... I want to watch Blues Clues"

This all takes about 2 minutes.

All the while Blake is telling her to be quiet because she is annoying him with all her talking.

The Park

Sam always takes care of Claire.

We went park and had a load of fun. Claire was very protected by her brothers. Everywhere she went, she had a shadow watching over her.

Sam is a little angel he talks so sweetly to her and makes sure she is safe.

Be quiet and Wait!

Claire was making me some Lemonade in her kitchen. I asked her," Is it ready"? and she said to me," Be Quiet and wait,.....and practice your piano". I don't know were she picks this stuff up.

TOO TIRED!

I wanted Claire to fall asleep in the car as we drove to DC but she just couldn't make it.

I am a Princess

Here is my princess. This is not what I would call her, but she has chosen this title for herself. She sings "IIIII am A PRINNNNNCESSS" She also talks of getting married and going to a ball. She serenades me as she dances to the music in her head {I can relate}I think I know were she picked up these lofty ideas. She went to a birthday that had a "Cinderella" theme. {My friend Beth, creates fun parties for her kids} There was a castle and they danced. Beth's daughter is one year older than Claire. Claire also sings " Reilly isss My Besssssst FRIEND. SHE Is In MY Classsss." { She puts everything to music} I think Claire is already giving in to peer pressure. I am not a real encourager of princesses and getting married at the ripe old age of two. She hasn't seen any of the Barbie or Disney princess videos. I don't want to influence her that way to much, but I guess I don't have a choice. I was hoping for a scientist or a great mathematician, some sort of inventor. We will have to see. She is my little girl.

I thought I should add this side note. The little princess got her first dethronement today. She was laying on the floor crying her eyes out because she wasn't getting her grapes and hummus fast enough.{ I'm telling you this girl is a task master} I asked her several times in a nice voice to get up off the floor and use her nice voice and I would get the food in just a minute. To this she screamed at me." I am not happy!" well at this point neither was I . In a not so nice tone I said, "Claire I will count to three, if you are not up off the floor you will sit on your bed till you can talk nicely." She screamed and I counted. Up to bed with her, up the stairs while she scream s" No! I want my food!" I put her on her bed and told her to stay there till she stopped crying. I left. She got off crying and screaming and came to the door. I picked her up and put her back on the bed and repeated myself. She looked at me in disbelief. I closed the door. When I returned about five minutes later she was still on her bed and not crying. I said "Are you done crying?" to which she replied with a somber "yes". I gave her a hug and said I am glad your not crying anymore. Would you like your food?" She nodded her head and said," Mom, I am happy now." So Am I.